The Norwegian striker may panic the counters by piling up the goals, his integration into the collective of Pep Guardiola is not unanimous in England.
Like Paris Saint-Germain, Manchester City will once again try to push their rock to the top of the mountain. Still as ambitious on the European scene despite its repeated failures, the English club travels to RB Leipzig, Wednesday February 22, in the round of 16 first leg of the Champions League. Across the Channel, we hope that the situation has changed thanks to the arrival last summer of the goal machine Erling Haaland.
Monstrous since the start of the season in the most famous championship in Europe, with 26 goals in just 22 games, the 21-year-old Norwegian did not need much time to convince. The spearhead of the Cityzens has won several precocity records, becoming for example the fastest player to score four hat-tricks in the Premier League (19 appearances), ahead of Ruud van Nistelrooy (65) and Luis Suarez (81).
A tactical incompatibility?
If he shines as an individual, his team seems to be struggling to exploit their full potential. At the end of Boxing Day, when moving on to 2023, Manchester City was seven points behind leaders Arsenal, who seemed to be in the grip of the title. This context of frustration has been fertile ground for criticism. The first analyzes making Erling Haaland one of those responsible for his team’s poor results came after the defeat at rival Manchester United on January 14 (1-2), after which the Norwegian remained silent.
‘Manchester City were a better team without Haaland, even though he has scored 40 goals this season’, dared former club midfielder Dietmar Hamann (2006-2009) on Twitter. That day, City chained a second defeat, three days after elimination in the EFL Cup against Southampton (0-2). His striker was then 281 minutes into the game without finding the net. “I don’t think Manchester City will keep their style of play with him. The more direct they play, the more goals Haaland will score. I imagined him playing at any club except Manchester City because it doesn’t is not the kind of player that Pep Guardiola wants up front”prophesied the German on Talk Sport last Junebefore seeing Haaland wearing his new colors.
Consultant for Sky Sports, Jamie Carragher rushed into the breach after the following defeat, at Tottenham on February 5: “He may have picked the wrong club to get the best out of him. We don’t see everything from Erling Haaland and Manchester City now, not because of him (…), but because he comes of a counter-attacking league (the Bundesliga) where you go from one goal to another, at a frantic pace (…) In City, the players build slowly, push the opponent to the edge from the box and looking to win the ball high up just after losing it.”
Haaland poorly served or too predictable?
Since then, Manchester City has returned to the title race, thanks to its victory against Arsenal on February 15 (3-1), but the question remains unanswered. After 24 Premier League days, the club have eight points less than the previous season (52 against 60) and, on the pitch, the characteristic intensity of Pep Guardiola’s team has clearly fallen. Opta, the reference for statistics in European football, noted that City had passed from 215 pressing actions per game in 2021-2022 to just 135 this season. Above all, Erling Haaland sometimes seems disconnected from his teammates, waiting in the area, where he touches 21% of his balls (against only 12% with Dortmund the previous season).
An observation confirmed by the interested party on Amazon Prime before the match against Arsenal, irritated at not being served well enough: “It’s frustrating. Either my teammates don’t see me or they think I’m not the best passing option. It’s up to the players around me to decide. It’s a matter of chemistry.” If he insists that he and his teammates “still getting to know each other”Erling Haaland has reduced the flow considerably lately, scoring just one goal in his last five outings in all competitions.
For Thierry Henry, consultant for CBS Sportsit is up to the Norwegian not to lock himself in his sector: “When I was a striker, I complained about everything, but Arsène Wenger asked me: ‘Do you think Dennis Bergkamp is going to give you the ball the same way Freddie Ljungberg did?’ (…) I have the impression that Haaland always makes the same run at the far post, no matter which teammate is holding the ball. We see that in big games they have trouble finding it (. ..). Before, it was difficult to know who was going to attack which area. Today, Manchester City is more predictable.”
